Letter: President acted adult at Mandela funeral

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Cuban President Raul Castro, as it rains during a memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela, at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, South Africa. Fidel Castro says his brother Raul introduced himself to Obama in English, telling him, "Mr. President, I'm Castro," as the two leaders shook hands. The Dec. 10 handshake set off speculation in the U.S. and Cuba about whether it signaled a warming of ties between the two nations after decades of animosity. U.S. and Cuban officials dismissed that, calling the handshake a mere courtesy.

At Nelson Mandela’s memorial service, President Obama had the temerity to act like an adult and shake Raul Castro’s hand. Listening to the howls of Republicans, you would think they wanted him to pull his hand away at the last second and tell Castro to “hang it on the wall.”

I expect any day to hear Republicans like Tim Huelskamp start yelling that the President has “Castro’s cooties.” It’s what we’ve come to expect from a large portion of the Republican Party.

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Probably has his place packed with Chinese goods and a closet full of Chinese clothes. All my clothes are made in the USA, so if you wonder if USA clothing can be bought, it can! Much of it union made.

If you have little ones at home, I give you a pass in this horrid Obama economy.

Those have all made the cost of doing business in America prohibitive, and chased off jobs. Those are all heavy-handed policies from the left, and there are plenty of left-wing 1%ers making BIG money supporting those policies. THOSE greedy people are OK with you? They are at least as bad as the greedy right-wing corporate suits (of whom I have no particular fondness for either), but at least the corporate suits would provide American jobs...if the left didn't keep strangling them.

As far as Obama acting adult...that's an impossibility. Obama is a petulant,narcissistic child in a designer suit. His words and actions have been extremely divisive, self-centered, hypocritical, childish and dishonest. Additionally, yucking it up at the funeral of a much-revered person is not "adult". Anyone could have expected him to act disrespectful at the funeral of one of his enemies (any conservative) because that's just how disrespectful he is towards those of whom he disagrees, but he can't even muster up enough class to act respectful towards someone in which he should have shown the deepest respect to, considering the many factors.

American Heritage Dictionary definition of fascism: "...a system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism."

so there are many flavors to the left. Characterizing Obama as a communist is bone-head convoluted thinking. Many idealistic people read Marx in college or at some point in their journey. I thought he had some interesting ideas, but saw no reason to believe in him. For one thing, his path to equality was violence. Well, the communist nations got violence all right.

As to ideologies, two beasts were evident in the 20th century -- one right (Hitler) and one left (Stalin). Glenn Beck would call them both "fascists," but would be pretty much wrong. He's just confusing the issue. Hitler and Mussolini were fascist and, along with the Catholic Church, hated the Stalinists (Russian Soviet Communism in mid-century). At the end of the century, the old Soviet Union was sold to Moscow's billionaires on the cheap with "vouchers."

Obama is not an extremist as a socialist. Good grief, he gave the GOP the ACA they invented as a free market universal health insurance solution. That's a very tall order and a very complicated shift. It's one thing to bring an ACA up in one small state and quite another to get it going in 50 states, especially when the red ones are doing all they can to shut down their own plan. I suppose ACA systems could actually become a red-state, blue-state divide.

Frankly, I can't go back to the GOP in its present metamorphosis. It is bat guano crazy. I will say this: If they take back the government they despise in the next 3 years, with all their underhanded tactics and dark money, it'll be Custer's last stand. More Laffer/Friedman economics will bury this economy and leave the middle class in ruins.

If they painted Obama as playing the corporatization of government game, they'd at least be partly correct. He has admitted it. What choice do he and other Democrats have? But a communist sympathizer? The ghost of McCarthy is haunting the GOP.

The only difference between Castro and the regim he replaced was one of right and left. He replaced a right wing dictator that had blood on his hands just as bad if nor worst than Castro. The difference being that one followed the wishes ofthe US government and one did not. After veiwing the foregn governments over the years that we have blessed, we have supported and trained some of the greatest dictaors of the 20th Century, and then ousted them one way or another after they decided they were no longer needed or they thought they no longer needed us, difference here is that Castro never thought he needed us.

If Obama has jerked his hand away, the crazy cons would have been whining about that. It does not matter what the an does, doesn't do, says, doesn't say..the Obama haters will whine. It is what they do best!

Two Communists get together and of course Larry the Lib defends them! Go Larry!!!!""

What an ASININE statement. This just PROVES beyond all doubt that your crazy cons live in some alternate universe where Obama and Castro have ANYTHING in common! Really? The junior high childish namecalling by the haters only reflect on you. You OBVIOUSLY do not know the meaning of the word ' communist'.

Along with Castros' abuses, you failed to mention all the torture, murders and human rights violations Obama is continuing to do, as we still rendition people from the Middle East, torture them at Guantanamo, and drone strike wedding parties.
And here I thought that over time Cuba and the U.S. would find common ground and ease our relationship. But I didn't think it would be because we became more like them.

You are funny!
In one post you said, " The junior high childish namecalling by the haters only reflect on you."
Then "The ONLY petulant,narcissistic, extremely divisive, self-centered, hypocritical, childish and dishonest people in this country are the CRAZY CON Obama haters who literally have NO IDEA that the man they hate is the EXACT OPPOSITE of them! Your insane comments prove it every time you post. The names you call him are really just a SELF description."

Talk about name-calling. ha ha

Does your mouth hurt from talking out both sides, Ha ha

Oh, you misspelled "wunder." It should of been wonder.

Obamas father and his mentor where both committed and admitted communist. Not name-calling, just facts.

I would put a LOT of money on the assumption that you have never owned or ran a business,
and that you are either a union worker and/or a government employee. The POTUS is a communist sympathizer, a Muslim enabler, and a dishonest, narcissistic anti-colonialist who believes that America has been a disgusting, racist monopoly run by rich, white men. He wants to bring America to her knees to make the world more "fair".

What is wrong with being a government employee? Brownback and all of the Legislature are and many of you conservators like them. What your post says is you are against the Pope because he wants poor people treated with compassion and understanding and you are against that. You are against everyone having an equal chance to make it because that is competition for your business. Your post states plainly that you want it all for yourself and others can just die. I am not a Catholic. And I have made many strong comments about the Catholic Church giving forgiveness in exchange for a contribution and stance on abortion. But this Pontiff has earned my respect. When people like you make such strong hate fulled comments it tells us more about your selflessness than anything else.

Taking cell phone pictures of himself at a funeral being viewed by the entire world. Then glad handing with a brutal dictator. Couldn't negotiate or meet with the GOP right before the government shutdown, but can't wait to get some face time with a communist dictator responsible for the murder of thousands of people. If a republican president behaved the same way Obama did at the funeral and shook Castro's hand the media would have had a virtual nuclear meltdown. Barbara Walters said the other day voicing her frustration and disenchantment with Obama "we thought we had a messiah" haha. No Barbara, but you are getting exactly what you voted for. Even his base of college kids and 20 something's are turning in their hope and change tshirts in droves. The shine has worn off. Maybe he can regroup on his tax payer funded 4 million dollar 17 day trip to Hawaii.

progressives and their policies really "get" is other people's money to spend...that of working people in the private sector...as to selfies, that is not Clinton-Lewinski but not too far off...he also supports the brothers, Iran and the terrorist Syrian rebels as the Copts are being systematically murdered daily in the middle east. and we will not forget Benghazi or fast/furious either.
so keep on calling us names and continue with your personal attacks and insults...we own the truth and that is something that progressives will never own up to.
I much prefer the insults to believing self-serving propaganda and serving at the altar of the most ethics-challenged administration in American history.

Uhhhhh what? I read your last post 3 times and have no idea what your talking about. I guess it was a response of some sort to my post??? You tell me. "Your generation that is bleeding us dry is dying off." I'm thinking your missing a couple or half dozen words in that sentence, not sure but I will take a stab at it. I think your saying I belong to a generation that you perceive to be "bleeding us dry". Not sure who "us" is in that statement. Furthermore I was unaware that 35 year olds were "bleeding anyone dry" or for that matter "dying off". So yes your correct I guess I don't get it, and if the "progressives" understand what you typed more power to them. Perhaps next time you post something try to "progressively" make sense.

Liberals have a bad habit of assuming things, and making blanket accusations against anyone with which they disagree.

When someone is constantly blasting liberal-created, failing big-government "entitlement" programs, but advocating for even larger, more expensive, already-failing big-government "entitlement" programs...it's obvious that the person shouldn't be taken seriously.

For all we know, the "liberals" here are conservative plants to make liberals look ill-informed, clueless...and frankly...kind of insane. If that's the case...they're doing a bang-up job of it.

I didn't know the press loved talking about foreign leaders so much. I guess in this case we should have known better, is it over yet? Flags at half staff? He wasn't our president...much to the dismay of the liberal press.

Writing a letter of opinion about Obama "acting adult" shows that you the writer have doubts as to his actions, as you pointed out the reasons he did not. He does not know how to act at any social gathering unless there is a microphone and a roaring crowd of believers of his message, then he is in his zone. Watching him is like watching old films of Hitler. Very sure he is as great to everyone listening as he is in his own delusional warped mind.
As for the other liberal posters on this you too know he is a kid in a mans body, with the intellect of a mere child. Defending the undefensible is not "acting adult", but it runs in the liberal family. I guess you have to be one to "get it". I don't want to get "it" or anything this man is selling.
The liberal voices everywhere want to convince listeners and reader this is our new norm and future, but I am convinced America will not allow this anomaly of an administration being in power to change our once great nation. We will survive and gat back to the principles and laws that made this nation great in spite of these tremendous setbacks.
Come on proud Americans; let's fight to keep America great!!!

Those that keep referring to different countries as communists need to lay off the ignorant posts and open a book. These countries are fascist, not communist. Communism is a system in which everyone contributes and then pull out benefits. Sounds good to me. Better than a system in which 50 percent of the population works in order to support the remaining 50
Percent that do nothing.